Daw Park Site

A question for the Minister for Health - Daw Park site.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: I seek leave to make a brief explanation before directing a question to the Minister for Health on the subject of the Daw Park site, the former Repatriation General Hospital.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: The ACH Group has made a submission to the government to amend the zoning of the former Repat site to make land subdivision a permitted use. The group has indicated that it expects to pay stamp duty on the sale in spite of the fact that it is a charity. My question for the minister is: can the minister assure this place that he will not agree to any master plan for the former Repat site which is predicated or includes a sell-off of Repat land?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse): The government's position in respect to the Repat site is clear. We've got an agreement with the ACH Group which is all about making sure that that site is used into the future in the community's interest, and that is what we are working towards delivering. I am expecting in due course, in fact hopefully rather soon, from the ACH the master plan for that site. We are very confident and hopeful that that master plan will be consistent with the principles that we have set out for the site, including it being used for community use in a health-precinct orientated way.

It's a great site. It's an iconic site. It's got a lot of emotion attached to it, and that's something that we are very keen to acknowledge. But we want to make sure that the site can be used in a way that is consistent with the needs of the community and consistent with the legitimate expectations the community has around it. We want to make sure that the site honours the legacy of it but also delivers an outstanding service into the future.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: Supplementary arising from the answer: is the sale of any portion of the site consistent with those principles?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse): My advice is that the ACH Group are very much committed to the site in the long term, but in the event that any sale of part of the site were to occur, it would be subject to the same principles through the land management agreement that is associated with it. We have put in place a range of protections to ensure that that site will continue into the future regardless of its ownership, will continue into the future to ensure it is used in the way that we want it to be used, which is consistent with the community's interests in a health-orientated precinct.

The Hon. J.M.A. LENSINK: A further supplementary: can the minister guarantee that the land management agreement will apply to all of the former Repat site, including any portion of land that's sold by the ACH Group?

The Hon. P. MALINAUSKAS (Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse): I think I've answered that question. I said previously that if the ACH Group were to sell a component of that land in the future—we don't anticipate that will be happening anytime soon, but if that were to occur—my advice is that the land management agreement that applies to that site would continue on, which means that the site would continue to be used into the future, regardless of its ownership, in a way that's consistent with the principles set out in the land management agreement, which is consistent with what this government wants to see happen to the site, which is that it gets used for community purposes.